The Great Ocean Road is a huge draw card for Victoria and is visited by thousands of people every year.
There are so many places you can stop along the way and stay for a few nights and today we are featuring Apollo Bay. I absolutely adore going away for weekends and we don’t get to do it enough working full-time and having a little child. Probably because most places I want to go are a decent trip away (like Greece 😉
However, in a place like Australia we are blessed with so many wonderful places to visit, many at our doorstep, where we can stay for a few nights and really feel like we are away from home.
Apollo Bay is about a 2 1/2-3 hour drive from Melbourne depending on where you live. The adventure begins the minute you hit the Great Ocean Road with stunning views along the coast the whole way.
To break up the trip with little ones, you can stop for coffee in Torquay and lunch in Lorne, another two great places to visit along the Great Ocean Road.
When you hit Apollo Bay it is a really typical cute little beach town with a line of pretty boutique shops and restaurants along the beach front and holiday homes galore.
Because we were heading there on Australia Day weekend I made sure I booked in advance. Accommodation can be quite pricey along the Great Ocean Road, especially over popular weekends but I found a great deal at Apollo Bay Holiday Park for 3 nights at just over $400.
When we arrived to the holiday park, our key was waiting for us and we excitedly drove to our cute little cabin.
Our standard cabin had a double bed for us and a separate little room with bunk beds for Finn which he absolutely loved. He was so excited to have a new bed for a few days. It also had a self-contained kitchen that included a few pots & pans for cooking and cups for the complimentary tea and coffee as well as a small bathroom with a great hot shower! (very important to me!). Even though we were trying to avoid technology whilst away, the cabin also included a TV which came in use later that night when we watched a family movie together. The cabin made us feel like we were on holiday even though we were not far away from home.
The holiday park also has a great little children’s playground (which we made heaps of use of) , a swimming pool and a games room with ping pong and a few other activities. One of the best things about the holiday park is its location. It is a two minute walk from the beach and about 5 minutes to the shops so we got our fair share of exercise and fresh air everyday!
That night we went for a walk down to the beach and then down to the shop front restaurants to order dinner.
We opted for fish n chips from the Apollo Bay Seafood Cafe and they were that good we went back the next night as well! I also had a souvlaki from there and although they are not as good as my old favourites from New Zealand they were still one of the best I have had in Australia. The service was also superb and the staff extremely friendly, especially with little Finn.
We then collected a few supplies from the local supermarket and headed home for an early night.
The next day we just spent exploring this beautiful little town. We walked to the beach front shops and stopped for breakfast at Waves cafe. We had coffee and shared a strawberry crepe, which was yummy. It’s a nice little cafe with comfortable seats looking out to the street. We then went to the playground on the beach front playground which was such a great space for kids and had heaps of different things to go on. Finn could have stayed for hours but we eventually dragged him away for a walk and play on the beach. After what seemed like a big day of walking and exploring we headed back to the cabin for some more family time and watched a movie. How good is it not having to worry about housework and washing?!
The next morning we were up nice and early to head to the 12 Apostles. This was my main reason for the trip as I had always wanted to visit them since moving to Australia in 2012 and I was a little bit embarrassed that I had not yet been. However, with Finn being quite little it seemed like a big drive for him so this trip was the perfect way to break it up. From Apollo Bay the 12 Apostles are another hours drive at least and it can be a bit confusing to find them.
Although there is signage for the 12 Apostles, the actual apostles themselves are hard to spot from the street. We drove up and parked in the parking area where there is also information, toilets and a small cafe. From there we crossed the road and followed the crowd to the main lookout.
There are apparently eight apostles left now (although I think I only counted like 5) but they are pretty magnificent! We stopped for a few family photos and then decided we wanted to go down to the beach at the bottom and get up close to these wonderful structures! I don’t think I was prepared for what was to happen next. haha.
We started walking for probably half an hour down a sandy path to find the steps down to the actual beach itself. We soon found out we could have just driven there as there was a parking space so we were feeling pretty silly (and exhausted) after that.
We then realised that it was quite a big hike of stairs down to the beach and they did not look the safest although tonnes of people were coming up and down. We had to ditch the pram at the top as there was no way of taking it down and carry Finn down the stairs ( I was of course freaking out slightly) but it was fine and we got to the bottom safely.
The effort was well worth it as it was a stunning view of the 12 Apostles up close and something made it feel really secluded and beautiful with a huge cliffs surrounding you. We spent a good hour or so laying in the sunshine and building sand castles with Finn before the weather started to change and we began our hike back to the car.
After a long and adventurous day, we were ready to curl up for cuddles in bed and have some dessert feeling a little bit sorry for ourselves that we had to leave tomorrow.
The next morning we packed up everything and headed down to the shop front for the last time for brunch. We opted for La Bimba cafe, which was a cute spot upstairs looking out to the beach. The service was really great here and the food was awesome. I ordered the muesli and it was presented beautifully and Chance had a breakfast burrito. I also took one of their delicious looking homemade muffins with me for the drive home.
We had such a wonderful time away in Apollo Bay just spending quality time together and I can definitely recommend it as a great spot for a weekend, especially if you are wanting to do the 12 Apostles and you have little children. For such a small place it has a lot of great cafes and restaurants on offer and we loved staying at the Apollo Bay Holiday park. I will definitely be back down The Great Ocean Road for another long weekend with the family. Any ideas of where to stay next??
Check out where we stayed here! http://www.apollobayholidaypark.com.au/
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